


A Place To Stay

by Mere



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 19:31:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15589125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mere/pseuds/Mere
Summary: “Hey, Mustang,” he says, “You told me I could crash here if I needed a place to stay.”





	A Place To Stay

**Author's Note:**

> So I really just chopped up canon and did whatever the hell I wanted with this. Brotherhood-oriented, but you know. Heavily modified to fit what I wanted. 
> 
> Kudos and comments are my life's blood, and you can [find me on tumblr here](http://www.merelore.tumblr.com).

Ed hesitates to knock, his hand held up to the door. Despite what he had said, despite everything, Ed still hesitates. It’s been a long time, five years in fact. Five years in which he knows he has changed as a person, and he’s sure the person on the other side of the door has too. On the other hand, it had been an olive branch and Ed would be a fool not to take it. Not when Al is no longer here. Well, here in Central at least. He is currently on his way back from Xing.

Ed finally takes a deep breath and bangs his hand on the door. It’s still weird to see people look at him in the streets and _realize_ who he is. Who he _was._ The former Fullmetal Alchemist. Ed escaped, just barely. He’s got a real arm, his alchemy and his brother. He really can’t ask for more than that. He was lucky, when his father stepped in.

He closes his eyes and waits. They’d left things…decently he will admit. They’d been on the tender footing of being friends, and it was more than he could hope for. The door opens slowly, and Ed feels his stomach plummeting towards his feet. What will he say?

And the door swings completely open. Roy Mustang stands in front of him in slacks, his shirt undone, with raised eyebrows. “Edward,” he says and Ed feels it in his bones.

No other person had ever made him feel like this. His stomach does a few more swoops before it settles into something more jittery.

“Hey, Mustang,” he says, “You told me I could crash here if I needed a place to stay.”

Mustang steps back from the door and gestures Ed inside. Ed enters the foyer and tries not to stare at everything. He’s only been here once before, and it was years ago. He’d have thought it would have changed a little bit.

But no, everything is about the same. Perhaps different shoes or coats, but they’re all still in the same place as the old ones. Ed hands over his coat to Mustang who hangs it up on the rack. Still taller than Ed – which isn’t as galling as it used to be. And Ed toes off his shoes. Mustang says nothing as he watches Ed. Ed meets his eyes and finds heat building in his cheeks, and he fights to keep it down.

“Have you eaten?” Mustang asks him, and leans against one of the doorways.

“Earlier…on the train,” Ed says hesitant.

“Come on then,” Mustang says and leads Edward into the kitchen. Ed doesn’t know all too much about kitchens since most of his cooking was over outdoor fires, but he thinks Mustang has a very nice kitchen. He sits in one of the available kitchen chairs as Mustang reheats something on the stove. There are papers on the table, and Ed pushes those to the side.

Of course, Ed has learned that Mustang presents the idea of being a slacker, but works hard when no one is watching. Ed’s eyes trail over the sole picture hanging in the kitchen. Mustang and Hughes, arms around each other. Sometime before Ishval, Ed thinks. They both look so young and happy in it.  A time before Ed knew either of them. He looks down at his hand. It enforces the guilt in Ed’s head even more deeply, there is an age difference between them, Mustang was already fighting wars when Ed was still a child. Yet…Ed had fought wars as a child. He knows it makes him different, made him older. When he talks to people his age it presents itself much more strongly. They’re all so _young_ and Ed can’t help but feel he doesn’t understand them, and they don’t get him. It’s a line neither of them can cross. Ed is older than he looks by years. Feels older too.

Mustang places a bowl of soup in front of Ed, and Ed devours it with a thank you. When he is done, Mustang watches him from across the table.

“Let me show you the guest room,” Mustang says as he stands, bracing his hands on the table. Ed follows him, feeling a little adrift for a moment before he rights himself. The door to the guest room is open and Ed peers inside. It’s a comfortable room, and Ed will gladly take not sleeping on a floor or a train. He turns to thank Mustang again and feels those dark eyes burning him as they gaze at his face.

Ed’s hand trembles on the doorway as Mustang takes a step closer and the air practically simmers between them. Mustang lowers his head and kisses Ed.

The kiss is soft – barely there and then Ed reaches up with his hands and catches Roy’s face in his hands and kisses him back.

Eyes closed, Ed could stay like this forever, but he knows that even if this is the beginning of something, they need to talk about it first.

But later, he thinks as Roy kisses him again, much later.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
